The present invention relates to guiding of tape by roller bearings, and more particularly to guiding of data tape in a data-recording device using roller bearings in high-speed applications.
In tape recording devices, such as audio tape decks, VCRs, and computer tape drives the tape is typically wound from a supply reel across a recording head to a take-up reel. While the tape moves across the recording head it is held under a defined tension, which is required for the recording head to function correctly. The tape is guided through the tape path by one or more bearings. These bearings can be roller bearings, hydrodynamic bearings, or hydrostatic bearings.
One of the common types of data recorder used with computers is a tape drive. Magnetic or other data tape is spooled from a supply reel to a take-up reel past the read-write head assembly. Depending on the type of drive, tape is guided past the read-write head assembly by roller bearings, hydrodynamic bearings or hydrostatic bearings. Roller bearings, also knows as rotating guides or rollers, can have flanges and may be flat or crowned. The rollers are mounted on precision ball bearings. In smaller form factor drives roller bearings are normally employed to save space. The hydrostatic and hydrodynamic bearings are also more expensive than roller bearings.
FIG. 1 shows a partial cutaway view of a prior art roller bearing 100. Two bearings 3 and 8 are coaxially mounted on a shaft 1 so that spool 7 (also known as a roller) is able to rotate around shaft 1. A retainer ring 5 holds the upper bearing 3 in place. A bottom flange 9 and a top flange 4 are used to limit the movement of the tape off the spool 7. The top flange 4 is held in place by belleville washer 6 and retainer ring 2. The bottom flange 9 is mounted on the base plate (not shown).
When the tensioned tape moves at a low speed across the roller bearings the spool 7 rotates smoothly around the shaft 1. However, many applications require an increase of the tape speed in order to reduce the recording time. At high speed the tape itself generates air currents around it as it moves, just as any other moving object will such as a train or car. As the tape speed increases the air currents moving with the tape cause an air film to develop between the spool surface and the tape, lifting the tape off the spool surface. The separation of the tape from the surface of rotating spool is undesirable for a number of reasons.
First, the air film is turbulent and causes the tape tc flutter. The tape must be stable at the recording head to accurately record and read data on the tape, particularly with new recording technologies using increasingly small bit cells of data. The instability of the tape increases errors significantly in both reading from, and writing to, the tape.
FIG. 5 shows the effect of air on the tape 14 when a prior art roller bearing 100 is used. The roller bearing 100 has two 2 flanges 4 and 9. The tape 14 is moved in the direction of arrow D5 and the spool 7 rotates around shaft 1 in a counterclockwise direction. The movement of the roller bearing 100 and the tape 14 generates airflow in the direction of arrow D6. The air is trapped between the tape 14 and the roller spool 7 and exits as indicated by arrow D7. The resulting air film that separates the tape from the spool 7 is often unstable, as shown in FIG. 5. The effects of the air instability on the tape are exaggerated in FIG. 5 in order to show the effects more clearly.
Another problem that can occur when the tape lifts off the spool surface is that the spool will slow down and can stop rotating completely. The air turbulence can even rotate the spool in the reverse direction. As the movement of the tape slows down during a stop operation the air film dissipates and the moving tape contacts the surface of the spool. The tape rubs over the surface of the spool until the speed and direction of rotation of the spool matches the speed of the tape. This results in increased tape wear and in contamination of components in the tape path, including the recording head.
The spool also has an inertia that dampens the tape movements as long as the spool and the tape stay in contact. Therefore, the dampening effect of the rollers being in contact with the tape helps to stabilize the tape speed. This dampening of the tape has a highly desirable effect, as it helps compensate for tape speed variations caused by other parts of the tape drive system. These sudden speed variations of the tape are caused by, among other things, interlayer slip in the cartridge hub. Increasingly higher bit densities and newer recording technologies, such as PRML, require very stable tape speeds.
Devices that measure the tape speed, such as optical tachometers, are typically mounted to the roller/spool. In order to function these devices require that there be no separation between the tape and the spool surface.
In the past, roller bearings have been used only at low and medium tape speed. To increase the tape speed and dissipate the air film, grooves have been added to the spool surface. FIG. 2 is a partially sectioned view of a roller bearing with three grooves 11. The roller bearing 200 comprises a steel shaft 1, coaxially mounted ball bearings 3, 8, flanges mounted to guide tape 4, 9, retainer ring for bearings 5, belleville washer 6, a rotating spool 7 and air bleed grooves 11.
At medium speed the grooves can be effective in preventing the development of an air film. However, at high speed the grooves can no longer dissipate enough air and the air film still develops. This limits the usefulness of the grooves and prevents roller bearings from being used in high-speed applications.
In addition, grooves can damage the tape itself in certain circumstances. In new tape cassettes the recording tapes are becoming longer, and therefore thinner, to increase the tape recording capacity. Thin tape can indent into the grooves as the tape moves across the spool. The indentation can permanently deform the tape. Recording in the area of the deformation results in high number of errors or may not be possible at all. The venting capacity of the grooves increases with their size and number, allowing for higher speed, but also causing increased tape damage.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,199,168 to Daly discloses a spool that attempts to minimize the tape damage caused by the grooves, while maximizing the grooves"" venting capacities. FIG. 4 shows two circumferential grooves 52 and 54 located one on each end of a spool. Between the two circumferential grooves is a single helical groove 50 that is angled obliquely to the longitudinal axis of the spool.
The oblique orientation of the groove minimizes tape deformation. The oblique orientation will, however, affect the guiding ability of the roller bearing. This helical groove causes the roller bearing to guide the tape differently in each direction, causing instability in the tape, particularly when the direction of movement of the tape is changed frequently. This reduces the usefulness of the helical groove in tape drive applications, as tape direction changes frequently.
In the current market there is an ever-increasing demand for smaller, faster, less expensive, but very accurate, tape recording devices of all types. This has caused a difficult design choice between the smaller, cheaper, but slower, roller bearings; or the larger, more expensive, but faster, hydrostatic or hydrodynamic bearings. In addition, the dampening effect of the tape being in contact with the spool is highly desirable in tape drives where the speed and direction change frequently.
It is, therefore, an aspect of the present invention to provide an improved method of removing the air film from between the tape and spool to allow roller bearings to be used in high-speed applications.
The present invention solves the problem of air film formation by providing a porous spool which allows the air to be vented through the spool. The pores are small enough that tape damage does not occur even with thin tape.
The primary aspect of the present invention is to provide a roller bearing which will allow high speed movement of the tape over the spool without an air film developing.
Another aspect of the present invention is to provide a roller bearing that guides tape equally well in both directions.
Another aspect of the present invention is to provide a roller bearing that will not cause tape damage.
Another aspect of the present invention is to provide a roller bearing that, when combined with a tachometer, will provide accurate measurements of tape speed.
Other aspects of this invention will appear from the following description and appended claims, reference being made to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification wherein like reference characters designate corresponding parts in the several views.
A spool is provided which is made of rigid, porous material. The pores allow the air to dissipate through the spool. This prevents an air film developing between the tape and spool at high speeds, thereby eliminating slip and improving guiding.